in california, where they raise taxes significantly, last year, roughly a third on million dollar plus earners, california had more job growth than the rest of the country. >> this is something we don't grapple with, what produces good economies is so multivarian the. and our policies end up tax rates. david cay johnson, thank you. > good evening, chris, thank you. it's sometimes easier than others. >> rachel maddow. the person i toss to every night. >> i just referred to myself by the wrong name a few days ago about don't worry about it. for the 2012 presidential election, republicans held their convention in florida, then in that election they lost florida. in the presidential election before that, 2008, republicans held their convention in minnesota. and then in that election, they lost minnesota. the election before that was in 2004, republicans held their convention that year in new york, and then in that election

that year, they lost new york. the election before that was 2000. republicans that year held their convention in pennsylvania, and in that election they lost pennsylvaniaship should i go on? are you noticing a theme? in 1996, republicans held their convention in california, and in that presidential election, they lost california. obviously. over and over and over and over and over again. republicans have done this. they're just on a terrible losing streak with this particular decision that they make as a party every four years. whatever state they hold their convention in, they lose that state in that year's election. it happens over and over and over and over and over again. the last time a republican candidate for president actually won the state where his party's convention was held that year, the last time, was in 1992, more than 20 years ago. in 20 years ago, the republican's nominee for president was george bush.

they decided to hold their election in texas. he lost the election, and ended up being a one-term president. wherever the republican party picks for their convention it jinxes that state for them for that election. or if you want to go back more than 20 years, you could find that their choice for the convention jinxes the whole election for them. they have a terrible record when it am coulds to choosing where to have their big republican party every four years. democrats this year have not picked where they're going to hold their next convention for the 2016 presidential elections. republicans they have now gone ahead, you may have heard that the last two cities on their short list, cities they were choosing between at the end. it was dallas texas or cleveland, ohio. if you think about, if the republicans want to break their losing streak of always losing the state in which they hold

their convention, you would think if they wanted to break that streak they would pick dallas, right? i mean, they'll probably win texas. yes, democrats want to turn texas blue, democrats are wishing and hoping texas is going to be a purple state that day. maybe not. texas is a really republican state. and it is likely that whoever the republican nominee is, in 2016 they will be able to win texas if nowhere else, right? so pick texas p you want to break the streak you guys. come on. they did not pick texas. so it's not a guarantee that the republican convention jinx will continue. but if you are a superstitious person boy that was a bad choice. they always think they have a shot at winning ohio. they have not been winning ohio lately. picking their convention to be in ohio, it's like petting a

black cat backwards while walking under a ladder, stepping on cracks all the way, admiring yourself in a broken mirror while you do it. okay, go for it. cleveland gets the convention, and dallas is mad. this from the dallas morning news. what is the world coming to when dallas can't land the 2016 republican national convention. this one stings a little more than our failing every few years to get the olympics. it's true, dallas isn't as republican as it once was, but we are smack dab in the middle of one of the reddest states on the map. cleveland, though? really now? dallas is, if dallas is, say light blue, cleveland is roughly indigo. cleveland is a town built on unions and mediocre sports teams, not that there's anything wrong with that, ow! good luck finding the dallas cowboys cheerleaders, big tex, or one decent plate of bbq or

mexican during your convention. no matter how much fun you will have, when you wake up, you'll still be in cleveland. that was the dallas morning news just moments after the convention announcement was made by the republican party. texas democrats also put out a statement blaming the texas republican party for the city of dallas losing out in that particular competition. this is what the texas democrats said, the choice of cleveland over dallas to host the convention, shows just how toxic texas republicans are. by choosing dallas, national republicans would have cen willy endorsed the texas republican platform and values, including reparative therapy for the lgbt community, repealing the 17th amendment that allows citizens to elect their own u.s. senators. texas republicans are out of step even with national republicans and out of step with the needs of texans today, the republican national committee confirmed it in this decision.

that's not meowing it's more like crowing. but i'm not going to go caw. there, i just did. texas republican politics are too toxic for the national republican party. the texas politics are too toxic for the national republican party. and whether it falls that way or not on partisan lines, right now more than ever. texas politics do actually happen to be our national politics as a country. and that is mostly because of the border crisis. that's why president obama was in texas today, he was in dallas today. he did not want to go to the american border with mexico in texas, did not want to go to the border itself, because trying to find a solution to the border crisis isn't theater. that's what the president said about that today, he said today that he was not interested in photo ops at the border, he's interested in solving the border problem. the president did take a big

chunk of his day today to meet with both republican governor rick perry of texas and also local officials from dallas about how to move forward on this issue of what's happening on the border. you know what, having this meeting in dallas specifically out of all the cities where they could have had the president today in texas, having it in dallas today ended up being an important thing, because there is something unusual that is going on specifically in dallas. it's been clear in dallas, for a few weeks now, thanks to coverage like this, from the loekal dallas press. this is from mid june, almost a month ago. the images of immigrant children packed into warehouses were too much for aldana. she called other members of the dallas hispanic bar association to begin looking into legal help that the group can provide to some of the tens of thousands of children that are expected to seek asylum in the u.s. this year.

members of the dallas hispanic bar set up an ad-hoc committee wednesday that has begun legal training to help address the crisis. this is weeks ago, local lawyers in dallas moved by the sight of these kids coming to the border alone. local lawyers in dallas themselves, setting up legal training measures for themselves to get those kids representation in the court system to try to help out those kids. and then there's catholic clarities in glass and ft. worth started holding orientation meetings for people to sign up to volunteer to help kids. just as individuals, even if you didn't have any special professional skills. people are signing up to be mentors to these kids or to do recreational activities with these kids. this is from the dallas morning news on july 4th. while protesters in cities and other states have turned away buses with immigrant children, others in dallas and ft. worth had a different message. their message? how can we help.

more than 1340 people filled the room with an orientation meeting at catholic charities this week. they heard about the agency's need for support from facebook posts, from e-mails and word of mouth. they're in dallas, there's the catholics stepping up. how about the baptists, anybody? yes, there are the texas baptist men, the name of the group, already involved in this, already agreeing to provide laundry and shower facilities at the camps that are holding their kids on the border. texas baptist men is one coalition in a group called organizations against disaster. churches and other social organizations are expressing interest in helping the imgrabt children in dallas county. at the democratic party convention, the statewide texas democratic party convention, the chief executive of dallas county, he's called dallas county judge, but essentially that means he's the executive for dallas county, he announced at the texas democratic party state convention that the county of dallas would offer to the

federal government to set up facilities to take in up to 2,000 unaccompanied kids. they are offering. >> regardless of your stance on immigration or the causes for this human tragedy, we cannot turn our back on the children that are already here. i have offered our assistance to the federal government and we are partnering to increase capacity to move a number of these children from incarceration on our border, to compassionate care here in dallas county. >> we can help all, but we can help some. and by helping some, perhaps we can aspire others to help. so that we can increase the capacity to help these children and together with communities across this country we can end

this humanitarian crisis. >> dallas county executive clay jenkins an elected democrat, the top official in dallas county, he put out the call not just for the city to help, the county to help. he put out the call for church groups, organizations, anybody to do whatever they could to try to help these kids. they put out a call for individual families to take in foster kids or to adopt them. dallas county told us today that they've had offers from potential foster families not just from towns across dallas county and texas, they've heard from families in wisconsin, pennsylvania, california, montana, minnesota, alabama, new jersey and the calls just keep coming in in all across the country. the dallas school district offered vacant buildings owned by the school district to set up facilities to house these kids and the superintendent of dallas schools said these kids need an education too. the superintendent said, if they are in our district come august we will want to help educate them.

i don't know if that's a role we will be asked to play, but that's my equipment. just as a texas political flashback, the idea of providing an education to kids, even to kids who are immigrants. that's what rick perry said he supported in 2012. that is what got him almost booed off the stage at a debate in orlando. the whole crowd booed him for saying, we ought to have a heart when it comes to these kids, they need an education. rick perry himself does not talk like that any more about immigrant kids and he only just ran in 2012. he no longer says something so reckless about we ought to have a heart when it comes to kids and families when they come across the border. how the law governs it is a law that was signed by president bush in 2008 it was an uncontroversial law. it was barely even debated in congress and the senate. they didn't hold a recorded vote

on it, that law requires that kids who turn up at the border in these situations they have to be held in the least restrictive setting when processed for deportation. dallas county is trying to find foster families for these kids. which might include them getting some education, that is what would count as the legally required least restrictive setting that's in the best interest of the child. even though that was signed by george w. bush not that long ago, the fact that that law is now being put into place and used in a compassionate way to help these kids, some republicans in washington are making noises about repealing that george w. bush era law. senator john mccain among the senators suggesting maybe that law should go now. as the country has started not just to come to terms with this crisis on the border with all

these kids, but frankly to freak out about it as well, president obama has requested a supplemental appropriations bill to beef up the budgets of the agencies that are having to deal with the giant influx of these tens of thousands of kids. money to transport them, money for deportation facilities and proceedings. money for the medical care, court system that is processing all of these individuals with this huge spike in numbers. and while increasingly, everyone in politics is screaming that something must be done about this problem that we need more resources to deal with this problem, that everything is overwhelmed, well, now that the president has asked for these more resources so the systems won't be so overwhelmed. now that you're asking for the actual money, it sort of looks like it's not going to happen. asked if he thought lawmakers would approve the proposal, senator marco rubio of florida said, no. given the mood here in washington, i don't have confidence it will happen. that earned this rejoinder from kevin drum, he said, well, of

course it won't happen. the crisis along the border is taylor made for republicans, it makes their base hopping mad, it juices their campaign fund-raising and any time the government is unable to address a problem, it makes obama look bad. why would republicans want to do anything to change any of this? president obama when he was in dallas county today, met with rick perry. and also with the dallas county executive who made that call for dallas county, for light blue dallas in the middle of red, red texas to this compassionate approach to this problem, to actually try to help these kids. the president thanked dallas for taking that approach today, he also had this to say. >> this should not be hard to at least get the supplemental done. the question is, are we more interested in politics? or are we more interested in solving the problem? if we're interested in solving the problem, then there's actually some broad consensus

around a number of the issues, there may be some controversies and differences between democrats and republicans on some of the policy issues, but on a whole bunch of this stuff there's some pretty broad consensus, let's just get that done. let's do the work. final point i'll make is, i want to thank some of the faith based groups i just met with, as well as mayors, commissioners, local officials, dallas has been incredibly compassionate in looking at some sights, some facilities in which they can accommodate some of these children. and i indicated in a hearing, the stories of churches that are prepared to not just make donations, but send volunteers to help to construct some of these facilities or fix them up. and there willingness to volunteer in providing care and assistance to these children. i told them thank you.

because it confirmed what i think we all know, which is the american people are an incredibly compassionate people. and when we see a child in need, we want to care for them. >> short hand way we talk about the reaction to this problem on the border in our country is that we're essentially having a nativist impulse in the nation. that the country's outraged about these kids coming across the border and the country is reinvolving against the idea we want to help them. there are pockets of the country and people in the country who are having that reaction, there are other parts of the country even in red states that are having a very different reaction to those kids. joining us now is judge clay jenkins who was in that meeting today in dallas. thanks for being back with us, i appreciate your time tonight. >> great to be with you. >> how would you characterize the meeting in the room today, particularly thinking about the president and the governor talking about these issues, what

was the overall discussion like today? >> wasn't bad for texas politics, by and large we put our partisan hats aside and had a good productive hour and ten minute conversation, and everybody agreed that the answer long term is to make conditions better for the children in their home country. short term, we have a problem, because we have children, just like your children and my children, that are here in texas thousands of them in cramped unsanitary conditions, our border patrol is doing the best we can. this is no humane way to treat children. and we're going to hen them here in dallas county. i was pleased that everyone in the room was not opposed to that idea. governor perry said that he doesn't the like the federal government telling him what to do. and he doesn't plan on putting roadblocks in front of dallas

county either, i was pleased to hear that. >> one of the things the president said in his remarks today. i didn't expect him to put it this way. we have -- we may have disagreements around that table and in that room, about some of the broader ideological questions here, in terms of what to do about this crisis. even people who are criticizing me in washington are only saying that the stuff that we should do is the same stuff that i'm proposing, it's only -- he's saying, there's no real policy disagreement on what to do on the border right now to try to alleviate these conditions for these kids and also to try to beef up what we need to do in terms of our resources on the border. he characterized it as just a political decision, that we have to decide whether or not we're going to do it, nobody disagrees about what we ought to do. >> was that the feeling you got from the discussion today? >> it was. everybody has a role to play. we're doing what we can do here in dallas county. the president's fully locked in and up to speed on this, and

he's doing what he can do. our states doing what -- doing some work as well. but it's time for congress to join into this as well. $1.8 billion of the money that's in this emergency appropriation goes toward caring for these children. but another $1.6 billion goes toward further securing our border. so there's really no good reason why the texas delegation can't stand up for texas and these children and our country together. if the texas delegation all stood together and voted for this emergency appropriation, then the government would have the tools that they need monday tearly to end the crisis. we may not be able to reach an agreement on comprehensive immigration reform. we certainly need to, but we may not be able to do that in the short term, there's no reason why the texas delegation can't

put their partisan beliefs aside, because this is about children and the humanitarian crisis, and quickly lead congress to pass the supplemental appropriation. >> dallas county judge clay jenkins, the senior executive official in that county. thank you for being with us. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> i have to say, the whole issue of how we're discussing this as a nation i think, does not account for these remarkable stories in places like dallas county. where their approach to it is to try to help. they have a plan as a county to take in 2,000 unaccompanied kids and moving forward with that, dealing with the politics of that locally. that is as much a part of how we're dealing with this as a country as those screaming people in the middle of the road in riverside county, california. we'll be right back. e porter was so incredibly... careful... careless... with our bags. and the room they gave us -- it was... beautiful. a broom closet. but the best part but the worst part was the shower.

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you want to see a senator get really mad and really confused at the same time? this happened in washington today. there's a fine emotional line between being confuses and being mad in a you're confused. i that i that's what happened to senator john mccain today did was an amazing moment about i'll show it to you in a second. in order to see what went so wrong for him here, you have to know about these two different guys whose names both end in owski. the first is thomas winkowski.

the other guy is gill kerlikowske. both involved in border issues and immigration, and both today summoned before the homeland security committee to talk about the border issue with john be mccain and others. john mccain cannot tell these two apart. and then rage ensues. >> mr. winkowski, i've been representing the state of arizona for many years, and i've never seen anything like your instructions to -- signed by your name, interim protocol for tours to cbp detention facilities. are you telling me when i visit a detention facility, i can't bring a cell phone with me? are you saying that? the united states senator visiting a facility, these are the instructions that you have

signed in. >> that's what you're saying? >> that the visitors -- >> visiting congressional -- member of congress. >> don't recall saying that. what i recall -- >> let me provide you with a copy, it says see distribution. kerlikowski -- you didn't see your own memo? >> that would be me. >> okay. >> that would be me. i did issue that memo, and we have had huge numbers of -- >> am i allowed to bring a cell phone with me when i go on to a facility? >> not to take photographs. >> i'm not allowed to take photographs? >> no. >> why not? >> why am i not allowed to do that? >> the children have a right to privacy, that's why we're not having their faces shown on -- >> i may want to take a photo of something else?

>> senator john mccain is very angry. he demands to know why this thomas winkowski character was disavowing knowledge of his own memo. his name is right there on the memo, gill kerlikowski. that had to have hurt a little bit, right? you're different men, i see. no, senator mccain can't take cell phone pictures of child detainees whether he can tell which owski runs the border patrol. he did not get far with his rant today. senator mccowski did get further with something he's working on and that story's next.

how you doing? hugh's business? business doing all right? >> it's all right. >> what's your name? >> my name is karen. >> i'm so excited. >> give me a hug. i'm glad you're excited. >> can we get a picture? >> yes, you can. >> oh, my gosh, it's the best day of my life. >> do you want one too? oh, my gosh, someone's going to think you're wax. >> nice to see you, good to be us. the bear is loose. >> the bear is loose. this has been the summer of

unscripted, unscheduled presidential moments. the people around him don't seem to know to expect him hopping out of his motorcade and walking over to the interior department, going on an impromptu starbucks run, the next day, ducking into a restaurant that was not expecting him. the bear is loose. the president says when he has these little impromptu public moments. and last night, ahead of his trip to texas today, the bear was very, very loose in colorado specifically in denver. the president did a walk around in downtown denver. he made small talk with kids about what grade they were going into into school in the fall. look at the secret service guy on the right. the president shook hands with a guy who was wearing a horse head mask. remember, it's not an announced event it's not like the guy woke up and thought, i'm going to meet the president better

remember my horse head. hey, denver. >> in the evening, president obama played pool with john hickenlooperer. the shots of them playing pool in a roped off area, the president did have to push through the crowd a little bit at one point which is where a guy shouted out a question to president obama of whether he wanted to take a hit of some recreational marijuana. he posted a clip of the president laughing at his offer. >> president obama very off script last night on this trip to colorado. including the inevitable but awkward pot question in that state that is doing tens of millions of dollars a month in newly legalized pot sales. the unscripted nature of the president's time on the street

led to one serious moment. a woman was left teary, not upset. but tearful after this exchange with president obama. >> are you -- >> i'm so sorry. >> what was his name? >> sergeant kenneth -- my older brother. >> how are your folks doing? >> good. >> thank you. >> that woman's name, i actually

that woman's name is kaelin mae eric. her brother was killed in afghanistan in 2010. and what the president gave her and said, this is for your brother, that's called a -- it's a challenge coin, like this one, which is a mark of respect and camaraderie among service members and veterans and also sometimes the commander in chief. in the middle of this offscript bear is loose kinds of evening in colorado, there was a sobering face to face moment about the wars and about a marine sergeant lost to the war. here's the thing, we are still in the midst right now of a real crisis of how we are handling veteran's issues. the thing everyone was talking about a few weeks ago, has still not been fixed in terms of veteran's issues. it's been more than a month since eric shinseki resigned. it's been nearly a month since the senate came together in this kind of magical crisis moment where they passed a big comprehensive veteran's bill to try to fix veteran's health care.

it was a strange pairing, right? but they were able to come together on this issue on the midst of crisis, the bill passed in the vote of 93-3. the way veterans were being treated. all that outraged being voiced on capitol hill, that bill passed 93-3, they fast tracked it on capitol hill, it was flying through walk, it was on its way to the president's desk, it was going to get passed. that was nearly a month ago but it never made it to the president's desk. it got stuck in the conference committee. it stuck. it's bottlenecked there, because of some republican complaints about the bill's costs. when the attention is there, and everyone is complaining about how something must be done, it's easy to demand that this must be done. no expense spared. this is a sacred obligation

we're violating, we have to fix it. sounds great, print it, put it in a campaign ad. when it comes to doing it? putting your money where your mouth is, so far the answer is no. we don't want to spend the money. we want to be quoted saying the money should be spent but we don't want to spend it. this thing passed the senate on june 11th, when it passed by that huge margin, it looked like it was done. but apparently is not done. some are objecting to paying for it, senator sanders has now gone back to the senate floor, because he has found he still has to make the case for this, still. >> let me just say this as we continue to proceed. if there's anything i've learned since i've been chairman of the senate committee on veteran's affairs, i think as a people, as a nation we underestimate the cost of war before anyone votes to go to war again, they should fully appreciate what the

repercussions of is that vote are. several weeks ago senator mccain and i put together a proposal to deal with the current crisis at the va and i'm very proud that that legislation passed the senate by a vote of 93-3. what are we dealing with? what's the cost of this proposal? this is an expensive proposal. because the cost of war is expensive. >> didn't you think that this was done? after that whole crisis and shinseki resigning. that's bernie sanders and john mccain of all people. if they could get together on this, and the senate agreed to go with them on this, didn't you think this was done? this is not done. since eric shinseki resigned more than a month ago, that means there's no one running the va right now, the nominee to

replace limb has not been confirmed. there will be a hearing tomorrow in the house, and members of congress love to go to hearings on issues like that. there's a ton of political capital in wrapping yourself up in veterans issues. apparently there's less capital in actually doing something. we'll see how it goes with the suicide bill that gets a hearing in the house tomorrow. we're already seeing how it's going with the big va billing. right now while this crisis is still happening, all of washington's flagrant and shameless lip service is not being matched at all with action. [ male announcer ] don't just visit miami.

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watch. dentist. at 1-800-dentist, we've helped over 8 million people find that right dentist. we can do the same for you. so don't put it off. call 1-800-dentist. mark udall of colorado is running for re-election this year against cory gardiner. and even though president obama yesterday did a fund-raiser in colorado, when he was in that state, he did a fund-raiser in colorado for senator mark udall. senator udall did not attend. he was originally expected to, but the senator said he needed

to be back in washington to attend to some legislation. i have to say, though, it's not like he was doing something unrelated to his campaign for re-election. to give you an understanding of what i mean, considering that this is the first ad that senator udall ran against cory gardiner in this senate campaign. >> it comes down to respect for women and our lives, so congressman cory gardiner's history promoting harsh anti-abortion laws is disturbing. he sponsored a bill to make abortion a felony, even in cases of rape and insist. here in colorado, mark udall protects our right to choose, our access to birth control, mark udall, in a word, respect. >> i'm mark udall, and i approve this message. >> that was senator mark udall's first add of his campaign. this was his second one. >> because this really matters, it's important you hear this directly from me. my opponent led a crusade that

would make birth control illegal and sponsored a bill to make abortion a felony, even in cases of rape and insist. his report is beyond troubling. it's wrong. we're talking about your rights as women, as families, as coloradans, i'm mark udall, you have the right to live life on your own terms to make your own choices, and that's why i approve this message. >> those are the first two senator mark udall ads, in case it's not totally clear what the contours are of that fight. while president obama was in his home state campaigning for mark udall, mark udall was in washington co sponsoring legislation that would reverse the supreme court's decision in the hobby lobby case. they say their legislation would essentially reinstate universal health insurance coverage for the full range of contraception in this country even if your boss at work doesn't like you using those forms of

contraception. senator udall's involvement as a co sponsor of this legislation, it underscores one political part of this issue, which is how they are opposing contraception, how that's likely to play in elections this year. whether or not a bill supporting legislation could pass the united states senate if the republicans filibuster it, which they will, and whether it can get even a vote in the republican controlled house, which it won't. and given those political realities, is it valuable for senate democrats to push this legislation that they introduced today? will it help? and if it won't practically help this problem that was created by the supreme court, what will? hold that thought, because we have a person on hand tonight for the interview who is more than anyone who is likely to know the answer to that question, and that's next.  ni,

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engraved over the supreme court are the words, and i quote, equal justice under law. it does not say equal justice under law except for women. but yet that is what the hobby lobby case says. so we are here today to say loudly and to say clearly that

every single person in america is entitled to equal justice, no matter who your boss is. >> today in the united states senate, democratic senators introduced legislation to effectively overturn the recent ruling of the supreme court, which said that employers can decide whether or not their employees should have access to birth control covered under health insurance. joining us now is senator barbara boxer of california, one of the co-sponsors of this new legislation. senator boxer, thank you very much for being with us. nice to have you here. >> thank you for inviting me. >> the legislature and the judiciary are obviously co-equal branches. you can't overrule the supreme court directly, but what would this legislation do to try to reverse the effect of the hobby lobby decision? >> we actually listened to the chief justice who said congress can fix this. just like we fixed the lilly ledbetter case, we can fix this. we simply say, not withstanding

any law, including the law they cite, the religious freedom restoration act, which i voted form, despite that law, a boss cannot deny you any procedure, any medical treatment that is placed into federal law that you're entitled to. no boss can tell you you can't have birth control or a vaccine for your child or a blood transfusion for your husband. so it's very important, because this is a slippery slope. >> based on everything that we have seen from republicans in congress over the last couple of years, i can't imagine that you have very high hopes as far as this bill becoming law this year. i can't imagine speaker boehner putting this up for a vote. i wonder what will happen if the republicans decide to filibuster this legislation, which i expect they would. what do you think are the reasonable chances of this becoming law?

>> first of all, i'm ever the optimist. that's what i do what i do for so many years, and i've gotten some things done. i want to be clear on that. here's the thing, we're not talking about anything radical here. this, i believe last i checked, was the 21st century. we're talking about access to birth control, and as we know, i think you know, 1.5 million american women take birth control pills for conditions other than birth control. they take it for painful, difficult medical conditions. and another 5 million take it in part for those conditions. so we're talking about millions of women, and we're talking about 99% of sexually active women taking birth control. so here is why i am optimistic. i believe, and i haven't seen any anything contrary, people will support us.

you saw mark udall and his wonderful ad making this point, and i think it puts the republicans in a bad situation, and frankly, i don't care. we have to step up to the plate, whether it's an election year of the not, and we have to protect the women of this country, our families, and it's essential that we take the step. >> senator barbara boxer of california, thank you for helping us understand this tonight. i would imagine on that political point, simply taking a vote is going to be a very political thing. more to come. we'll be right back.

set your google news alert. there's something going on in conservative and republican politics right now. it's not clear where the story is going to end up, but it may very well end up being a huge hairy deal. in mississippi, tea party candidate chris mcdaniel was living on that song "i can't let go." he lost the seat two weeks ago, but he was still not conceding, still making noises about challenging the results, somehow, somehow he can't let go. it's not like this thing was done everywhere but in soreloserville, mississippi, population one. first, the news reported that the senate conservative fund is sponsoring soreloserville this week. reportedly wiring $70,000 to the chris mcdaniel legal fund to

challenge the election. and then senator ted cruz of texas proclaimed that he too wants an investigation into what happened in that mississippi election. thad cochran might have stolen the election. >> what happened in mississippi was appalling. i mean, primaries are always rough and tumble, but the conduct of the washington, d.c. machine in the mississippi runoff was incredibly disappointing. >> it was one thing when that mississippi senate race goes a distant annoyance for the republican party, but now conservative case makers like senator cruz saying the republican party robbed him, it looks like somebody ripped the band-aid off this thing. so, again, i don't know if this is going to become anything more than it is right now, but watch this space on this mississippi

story. it's going to be interesting to see if all the other ambitious republicans and media figures out there line up with ted cruz on this, because they usually do when he gives them the opportunity. we'll see you again tomorrow night. when he gives them the opportunity to do so. "first look" is up next. good thursday morning. right now on "first look," a tense standoff at the scene of a mass shooting in texas. details ahead. president obama focuses on fixing the immigration problem. he says photo ops at the border won't help anyone and that congress must act on his plan. spoiler alert. donald sterling makes downright nasty comments about his wife in a court hearing over the sale of the clippers. plus, mother nature is sending us messages about who's really in charge out there. good morning, and thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. we want to begin with breaking news overnight in texas. a three-hour-long standoff has ended after an alleged gunman surrendered to authorities. no